4 Tips to Create Short Content for Long Term Marketing Success

Time is the currency of content, and your audience is in control of its economy. No matter how valuable you think your content may be, it’s only worth the time your audience is willing to give it. If your content doesn’t deliver in the time it’s given, it’s not going to drive the results you expect. Interestingly enough, content marketing research shows it takes an average of ten marketing touches to progress a net-new prospect into a closed-won deal over the buyer’s journey. To drive revenue, your content needs to consistently earn your buyer’s limited attention at every touch point. So what’s the best way to operate on your buyer’s time? Keep your content short, sweet, and to the point…

1. Remember The Appetizer Effect:

The primary benefit of quick content (as long as it effectively delivers its intended value) is that it earns more time from your buyers for longer form content later on in the funnel. Much like a well-made appetizer whets your appetite without filling you up, effective short-form content gets the right wheels turning for your buyers while leaving them hungry for more ‒for example, getting them to start identifying the challenges and pains that they face. Then, when it comes time to recommend a full eBook entree, or any other relevant long-form content assets, your buyers won’t consider the experience to be a tax on their time.

2. Show Respect in Empathy:

So much to do, so little time – we’re all struggling through hectic schedules, pressing deadlines and a variety of other challenges every day. That’s just what work is. As pressed for time or stressed as you may be, though, remember that your buyers are just as stressed and pressed as you – if not even more so. Using short form content, however, is a good way to make life a little easier for them by taking up as little of their time as possible. Whether you clearly state your intent for sharing short form content, or you let the subtlety speak for itself, you’re actively showing respect for your buyer and his or her time by keeping your content quick.

3. Thrive from the Drive to Nurture:

Beyond the emotional appeals of short form content, pragmatically, it’s also an opportunity to feed into longer lasting lead nurturing paths. According to Aberdeen’s marketing technology research, 68% of Best-in-Class organizations leverage lead nurturing functionality within their marketing automation platforms; so naturally, lead nurturing has become a well-vetted best practice. Using a series of short form content hosted on landing pages with well-oriented calls to action to longer assets, or more persuasive content pieces can be integral to this proven tactic to keep customers and prospects consistently engaged and informed.

4. Practice Programmatic Agility:

Content marketing research shows that aligning content to specific stages of the buyer’s journey can boost conversion rates by as much as 73% on average, but doing so isn’t exactly easy. With short form content, however, instead of toiling to fill small buying stage content gaps with big, time consuming content assets, short form content can serve as a quick fix to keep your programs moving (also consider using existing third-party research to fill these gaps). Moreover, a key differentiator between leading content marketers and their peers is the ability to measure content effectiveness – research shows 79% of Leaders are able to track how specific content assets perform verses only 50% of Followers. With short form content and active performance measurement, you can easily swap out content that’s not working in a relatively short turn around to continually improve on providing the most valuable engagements to your buyers.

In short, short form content is a critical component to an effective content marketing mix. From condensed one page sheets, quick data visualizations, check lists and charts; to tweets, blog posts, social updates and other easily digestible interactions, short form content offers small pieces that deliver big value to both your buyers and your organization.

4 Tips to Create Short Content for Long Term Marketing Success